KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — Sosland Publishing Co. has announced its spring Purchasing Seminar, to be held virtually June 8 and 9, will be open to the entire food processing industry at no charge.

Additionally, registration is now open for an in-person Purchasing Seminar to be held in October, the first live Purchasing Seminar in more than two years.

“Providing timely ingredient market information is at the core of our mission at Sosland Publishing Co.,” said Joshua Sosland, president of Sosland Publishing. “We are in the midst of the most difficult commodity market environment in years. As a leader in the industries we have served for almost a century, we are determined to do everything possible to ensure the grain-based and food processing industries are adequately informed as they craft ingredient purchasing decisions this spring.”

Last year, the June Purchasing Seminar had been scheduled as a live event before it was canceled and moved to a virtual platform because of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 300 industry executives registered for the virtual event, which was free to those who had attended the Purchasing Seminar in recent years. The 2021 event will be accessible and free to all food companies and suppliers.

Presenters for the June event, to be held over a Tuesday and Wednesday for the first time, will be Steve Freed, ADM Investor Services, wheat and bakery flour markets; Ankush Bhandari, The Gavilon Group, LLC, millfeed and feed grains; Paul Meyers, Foresight Commodity Services, Inc., bakery shortening; Craig Ruffolo, McKeany Flavell Co., sweeteners; Emily French, Global Ag Protein, markets panelist; Drew Lerner, World Weather, Inc., weather; Tim Statts, Schneider Electric, energy; J. Eric Kelley, UMB Bank, the economy; Jay O’Neil, HJ O’Neil Commodity Consulting, transportation; and Kara Nielsen, WGSN, consumer trends. 

The in-person seminar will convene about 3½ months later, around the time US fall harvests should be in clean up phases. Following the traditional format of the Sosland Publishing Purchasing Seminar, the event will be held at the new Loews Kansas City hotel Oct. 24-26.

“Many industry executives have shared with us that there is a hunger for the in-person interaction that is a hallmark of the seminar, once it becomes safe,” Sosland said. “The October seminar will provide a forum for the industry to gather while hearing valuable market updates as the corn and soybean harvests wind down.”